Status updateSince I updated the OP in January, I had absolutely no time for the NES plugin or any other Retrode feature.

I'm still determined to improve the NES plugin design to make it easier for others to build one, or maybe even more.But don't expect anything soon. I'll probably only have a few hours to spare for this every week.

Status updateSince I updated the OP in January, I had absolutely no time for the NES plugin or any other Retrode feature.

I'm still determined to improve the NES plugin design to make it easier for others to build one, or maybe even more.But don't expect anything soon. I'll probably only have a few hours to spare for this every week.

I have updated the OP again in the meantime, though not much has changed (except that I now at least did other Retrode stuff).

The prototype has two PCBs, of which one plugs into that NES spare part. For a mass-producible design, the plug-in should instead have only one PCB with the cartridge slot soldered onto it.

And that slot will probably be the biggest problem: 72 (2x36) pins with a stride of 2.50 mm seem to be rare. For a small series, Matthias suggested to saw apart shorter 2.50 mm slots, because we don't need the center pins. But that's nothing for real mass production. (Note: I have no idea how many or few people would be interested in buying this. Nevertheless, I'll try and make it as mass-producible as possible.)

Using 2.54 mm stride slots seems inacceptable to me, the risk of short circuits is too high: 0.04 mm * 18 = 0.72 mm = 28,8% of a pin, and if you don't center the cartridge perfectly, the offset will be even greater.

Edit: The 72 pins are 2x36, so the half width of the slot is 18 pins, not 36.

Why are you using the original NES mechanic connector instead of a solder NES connector like the kazzo or Retron consoles? It's much easier to deal with, doesn't bend pin easily and is is cheap to get as well.

That way you can do everything on once PCB and someone could print a neat 3D case for that, too.

Why are you using the original NES mechanic connector instead of a solder NES connector like the kazzo or Retron consoles? It's much easier to deal with, doesn't bend pin easily and is is cheap to get as well.

See reply #21 above. The solder connectors I managed to find so far had the wrong stride.

The page does not seem to list any specifications for the connector. I noticed that they also offer EverDrives, but I have no idea whether that's legitimate.@EvilDragon, do you know anything about Tototek?

Before I built my prototype, I spent many hours trying to find a suitable connector, and I only found the NES spare part. I hope that EvilDragon will be more successful.

For a new prototype, if I get around to making one, I will use sawn-off pieces of shorter connectors.

Note that I am also aware of the threads on the Nesdev forums where people discussed the use of connectors with the wrong stride. I guess, if you can ensure that the cartridge is centered properly, and if the connector has narrow contacts, it may work. But I'm not a fan of such a solution.

Could you please try and measure the width of one row of 36 pins on that connector?

With 2.50 mm per pin, one row would be 9.0 cm (about 3.54 inches) wide. However, that includes 36 gaps, and there are only 35 gaps between 36 pins. With 2.54 mm (0.1 inch) per pin, the row would be 9.144 cm (3.6 inches) wide.